Archaic Franco-Spanish pattern

These XVI century Spanish-suited cards by Grossard represent an archaic pattern which was widely produced in France as well as Spain. Many early examples come from France.¹  In these early days card designs were being exported via trade routes and copied between different areas. By the late 16th century overregulation and a high demand for affordable products led to a growing black market in smuggled packs in which the maker's name was not identified and inscriptions on the cards tended to become nonsense and not traceable back to a specific maker.

The woodcut outlines and stencil colouring in this example are clearly defined. The ace of coins features a Spanish coat-of-arms with the inscription “Histania Rex Carolv Dei Gratia”, and the name I. Grossard appears in a scroll. The eagle looks more like an owl. The king holds a small axe and the cavalier of coins is seen from behind. The two of swords has a partly illegible inscription “Fecha en Bordaux” probably reflecting the regional dialect of the time. The ace of swords, with its ornamental strap and characteristically accompanied by a naked person, has the name Guillaume Grossard, suggesting that these cards come from two incomplete packs. The ‘sota’ of cups displays a heraldic lion. There are no line-breaks, or ‘pintas’, as these didn't appear until the mid-eighteenth century. Three of the jacks have additional decorative flowers.

Above: Franco-Spanish pattern by Jean Grossard & Guillaume Grossard, Bordeaux, 16th century. Woodblock & stencil, mixed packs. Source gallica.bnf.fr / BnF.

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Cards with similar designs were produced by Jean Pouns S.S. (possibly of San Sebastian). The Five of Coins shows the portraits of the Catholic monarchs, whilst the Four of Coins has a six-pointed star with a shield in the centre. The Ace of Swords has a small person in the background.

Above: cards from a woodblock and stencilled Spanish-suited pack, of similar design, made by Jean Pouns S.S. (possibly of San Sebastian), c.1680.

The Franco-Spanish pattern is known from before the Spanish National pattern emerged, which was an entirely new design probably originating in 17th century Catalonia. Prior to all this, the so-called ‘dragon cards’ were used in Spain, also in Italy, Sicily and Malta, as well as several earlier Gothic Spanish-suited patterns. Earlier still, of course, cards first arrived from the Islamic world to Spain and Italy in c.1370.

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Notes and References

¹ Examples include packs by Diego del Campo (Toledo, c.1540), Pierre Pepin (Seville) and Phelippe Ayet (Valencia, 1574), François Gaben, Jehan Person, Jean Pouns, Guillaume Grossard (Bordeaux) and Jehan Volay. Examples made in Spain were often by French immigrant card makers. Examples from Toledo dated 1584 are also known.

Bibliothèque nationale de France: Cartes d'un jeu au portrait espagnol►

Denning, Trevor: The Playing-Cards of Spain, Cygnus Arts, London, 1996

Mann, Sylvia: All Cards on the Table, Jonas Verlag/Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 1990